A new study from Juniper Research has found that global
consumer spend on digital content will reach $250 billion in 2019, an increase
of $23 billion year-on-year.

The research found that SVoD (Subscription Video on Demand)
services will be a key driver of growth as major players, including Amazon,
Facebook and Twitter, acquired sporting rights in the last few years. The
worldwide reach and significant subscriber numbers of these players position
them as effective partners for sporting tournament and leagues aiming to
increase viewership.

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Video Accounts for Lion’s Share of $23 billion Increase

The new research, Digital Content Business Models: OTT &
Operator Strategies 2019-2023, forecasts that in 2019, video will have the
highest year-on-year growth in digital content revenues; reaching an estimated
$94 billion, and accounting for 45% of global annual revenue growth. Other
sectors leading growth in net incremental revenues in 2019 will be:

Games: 36%

Lifestyle: 8%

ePublishing: 5%

The research found that growth in video will be driven by
continued content spend by OTT players such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple, whose
budgets were $8 billion, $5 billion and $1 billion respectively in 2018.

Meanwhile, games will generate the highest digital content
revenues of all categories to reach $99 billion in 2019. Research author Elson
Sutanto explained: “Games revenues will be 40% of total content revenues in
2019, unchanged from 2018, as popularity of watching eSports online and
attending tournaments remains strong worldwide”.

Amazon Targets Premier League Sports Rights

The report also highlighted Amazon’s acquisition of a small
rights package in England’s soccer Premier League. It argued that Amazon would
essentially be using the package to test the water for larger, potentially
exclusive, bids in the future in both Europe and the US, by gauging the level
of viewership among its Prime and non-Prime members.